Goodbye to the Gibraltar border: free movement and a new era after the agreement with the United Kingdom

The Gibraltar border fence, erected decades ago and a physical symbol of the dispute between Spain and the United Kingdom, has a date set for its demise. The agreement reached between the European Union and the United Kingdom regarding the Rock, finalized by the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, will mean the end of this border crossing and the removal of what José Manuel Albares has described as “the last wall of continental Europe.”

The treaty, over 1,000 pages long and pending since Brexit, redefines Gibraltar’s relationship with the Schengen Area and the single market. It will guarantee the free movement of people and goods and, according to the Foreign Minister, ” will particularly benefit the 15,000 cross-border workers” who cross the border daily.

Albares has requested to appear before the Congress of Deputies to explain the content of the agreement, the text of which has already been published by the European Commission. He has also sent the document to the mayors of the Campo de Gibraltar region, the president of the Andalusian Regional Government, and the main economic and social stakeholders in the area.

The minister emphasized that, despite the new framework, “Spain maintains and protects its claim to sovereignty.” However, the agreement was finalized without progress on this issue, and the government does not plan to submit it to a vote in Congress.

Following Brexit, the European Commission delegated to Spain the responsibility of negotiating Gibraltar’s future status with the EU. The result is a treaty that integrates the Rock into EU frameworks such as Schengen, ends the border fence, and opens a new chapter in the relationship between Spain and the United Kingdom, as well as in the daily lives of the 300,000 Andalusians in the Campo de Gibraltar region.